As the human race grows, so does its need for electrical power. For the longest time now we have been relying heavily on fossil fuels to generate a large amount of their electrical power, this has caused many problems such as release of many harmful chemicals into the atmosphere, as well as causing many other issues. Newer technologies have enabled us to generate power through nuclear fission, which cancels out many issues that fossil fuels causes, although it creates new issues that are also difficult to solve. This investigation will explore the issues of both fossil fuels and nuclear power to answer the question “Would converting our main power source from fossil fuels to nuclear power be the correct choice?”
Solar energy can save us. Solar energy can reduce pollution by burning fuels in extoridant
For years, many scientists, environmentalists, and energy experts have been studying how human’s creation and use of energy has impacted our environment. These experts have discovered some troubling facts. Most of our country’s energy is created from burning fossil fuels that pollute our atmosphere, contribute to global warming, and thus threaten the future of our planet. But there’s a safe and effective solution to this problem: nuclear power. Nuclear power should be used more in the United States to create clean power that doesn’t pollute our environment, in order to help combat climate change.
Throughout history, the source of energy that powers the world has advanced alongside technology. The power on which civilization thrives has to be in accordance to the demand at which it is required. As technology evolves, objects from which energy can be extracted can expanded exponentially. In the status quo, the United States is trying to limit the greenhouse gas emissions instead of just switching power sources which is the wrong direction they should be going in. [Thesis] Instead of wasting their time and money investing in burning coal as their main source of power, countries and their governments need to assist in the transition to a more cost effective and efficient form of energy in the form of nuclear energy.
Today, as much as we know about nuclear power is one of the most powerful and fresh energy, compared to any carbon dioxide producing fuels like coal or oil. It is a very cost effective “cheap” source, but with a major downside. Obtaining it is a rather complex chemical procedure, and the outcome is not only precious power, but also hazardous waste. This
The sun is a massive burning ball of hydrogen that outputs gigantic quantities of energy every second. Sunlight is an excellent energy source and the future of using solar power is very exciting. The Sun's energy can be used to heat and cool buildings, generate electricity, operate communication, and GPS systems and even power solar cars. The sun’s energy is clean and solar panels used to harness the energy are low maintenance.
Atomic energy production is a dangerous technology that must be replaced by eco-friendly energy production methods. Atomic energy production relies upon radioactive materials used as fuel to generate electricity; these fuels are highly toxic and volatile substances that are lethal to all forms of life. In the event of a technical malfunction, or natural disaster, these dangerous substances can escape into the environment where they will remain disruptive for centuries. The nuclear power plant at Fukushima Daiichi in Japan is one such example of this, but alarmingly, many nuclear power plants are built along geological fault lines, in tsunami regions, and other dangerous weather zones all across the globe. The potential for widespread devastation to the environment is real. For this reason alone nuclear energy should be phased out entirely and replaced by a safe alternative.
Nuclear power plants are one of the main ways to gather energy, but is it the best and safest way and cleanest way to get energy? Abe gilbert says, “For now I will simply state that Nuclear Energy can never be clean or safe. Look at the hundreds of thousands of cubic tons of nuclear waste that we have no safe place to store.”(Abe Gilbert 4).Nuclear power plants are not, despite of what other people say, the cleanest and safest way to get energy. Nuclear plants are harmful to the environment, are not as durable (long lasting) as other ways of getting energy, and they become potential targets for terrorist who want to destroy the United States. People may argue that nuclear power plants are clean and are safe, but are
The world as we know today is dependent on energy. The options we have currently enable us to produce energy economically but at a cost to the environment. As fossil fuel source will be diminishing over time, other alternatives will be needed. An alternative that is presently utilized is nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is currently the most efficacious energy source. Every time the word ‘nuclear’ is mentioned, the first thought that people have is the devastating effects of nuclear energy. Granting it does come with its drawbacks; this form of energy emits far less pollution than conventional power plants. Even though certain disadvantages of nuclear energy are devastating, the advantages contain even greater rewards.
Undoubtedly, there are many concerns over global warming, which is largely con-tributed to the burning of fossils fuels. In this respect nuclear power is one of the cleanest means of generating power. Unlike many other forms of electricity nuclear power does not generate electricity by burning products. In fact nuclear power does not generate any carbon dioxide, sulfur oxides, or nitrogen oxides (U.S. Energy Information Administration, n.d.), which are green house gasses that contribute to global warming. Additionally, “Nuclear power provides an environmental benefit by almost entirely
As humans continue to generate more carbon emissions and other harmful gases to the atmosphere, climate change and global warming slowly happens. People have sought ways to reduce carbon emissions by switching to other sources that are both renewable and clean. Over the centuries, people were able to harness energy from other resources besides coal and petroleum. Alternative energy resources produce little to no carbon at all thus, reducing carbon emissions. Alternative energy sources include wind energy, solar energy, hydroelectric energy, biomass energy, and nuclear energy. Only twenty-two percent of the world’s electricity is from renewable energy leaving seventy-eight percent to fossil fuels. Although all alternative resources reduce carbon emissions, most of these energies are not affordable, efficient, or portable, making alternative resources not able to fully eliminate all fossil fuel usage. Out of all the renewable resources, it seems nuclear energy rises to the top with the lowest land and location usage,and highest availability and efficiency.compared to other alternative energy sources. Nuclear energy is the best. (Toshi)
than the toxic burning of fossil fuel, which produces high amounts of greenhouse gases (Health Research Funding). However, I believe that the disadvantages and potential hazards of using nuclear power plants demean the advantages, and thus they should not be considered as a solution to energy problems. The disadvantages include the usage of non-renewable fuel and the potential of long-lasting destructive effects on the environment and health.
The most common nonrenewable energy source is fossil fuels. Fossil fuels include coal, petroleum, and natural gas. All of these gases contain carbon in them, which hints why it takes longer to be formed. It’s very harmful to the environment because of that reason, they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and also increases global warming. When these gases are burned they release pollutants into the air, land, and water (Tiwari, 2011, p.4). Fossil fuels are very inexpensive to extract and are easily stored and sold around the world. Venezuela is one of the biggest oil production places and their country depends on it economically.
Clean sources of energy basically refer to those that do not encompass the burning of coal, petroleum or its products and the transformation of solid waste or nuclear division (Broyles 23). Therefore, renewable types of energy could be termed as clean sources of power because they are products of natural sources and do not emit hazardous by-products. Safe energy is not poisonous, is healthy, renewable, and sustainable and does not have devastating effects on the lives of the users, the
The term, “non-renewable energy,” is at its most basic form, means that the sources of energy will eventually one day run out and not replenish itself. Non-renewable energy comes in many forms. For example: coal, crude oil and natural gas. These sources are categorized as fossil fuels, meaning that they were formed in the past due to natural processes from dead organisms. Non-renewable energy has been proven to be very beneficial to the US, however, many people argue the negatives are not worth the benefits.